ODESSA, Texas —
Medical Center Hospital and Odessa College hosted a Spring Signing Day Thursday for student graduates from the School of Health and Sciences at Odessa College. Most of the student graduates were nurses.
However, when you think of going to school for nursing, you probably imagine having to go to a large university. But smaller schools like Odessa College, Midland College and the University of Texas Permian Basin also offer quality nursing programs.
“We offer a lot of programs to meet every student's needs, so you can get a certificate within a year, you can get a degree within two years. We are very excited to be expanding into degrees where you can get a bachelor's degree,” said Yesenia Walsh, director for the Associate Degree Nursing Program at Odessa College.
Once a student graduates and gets experience at a hospital in the Permian Basin for a couple years, what’s stopping them from moving on to another city? According to Walsh, the answer might not surprise you.
“So, one of the really great things that we pride ourselves in is that almost all of our graduates in our health programs stay within the Permian Basin," Walsh said. "So, they grow here and then they go out into the into the workforce and serve the community that they went to school in.”
According to MCH, nurses are an integral part of the healthcare industry and there is always a need for them, especially in areas like the Permian Basin which has a rapidly growing population.
"There's never going to be a point in time where we're like, 'hey, we don't need any more nurses' because with people retiring or with people advancing their degrees and going out and becoming like nurse practitioners or going into the education realm, there's always going to be a need for someone to come and work at the bedside," said Kim Leftwich, chief nursing officer at MCH.